Happy Birthday To Me

Today is my birthday. I am now 28. I feel neutral about this, but I have noticed that people over this last year or two are starting to say things to me like "well, that's just aging for you" or "I guess we aren't as young as we used to be", and I must say I find these comments highly annoying. I can say things like this about myself from time to time, but it is kind of insulting when other people say them to you. Alright, enough ranting on the getting older comments. . .

This birthday will, of course, be fun. My little sister is coming into town today. I'll get to see her when I get off work! This evening a bunch of people are coming over to my place to play volleyball and grill out. This will be mostly church people, but maybe one or two other friends outside of church.

After V-ball and dinner, Mary and I will go see Me Without You (Mary's favorite band) at the Cat's Cradle. I will stay out way too late and when we get home we will smoke cigars and drink beer until the wee hours of the morning. The next morning I will go to work and probably be a zombie (because "I'm not as young as I used to be").

Tomorrow evening, I am very much looking forward to a friend treating me to dinner at a very nice restaurant and wearing the cute sundress I bought a few weeks ago. Then we will watch a movie at my place and there is a high possibility I will be so tired that I may fall asleep during the film, but I will do my best to stay awake (especially because we will be watching Juno and I have been wanting to see this movie for ages!).

And that, my friends, is how you turn 28. That is all ;)

Help Me Solve A Puzzle

I have a friend who is here from Germany. He is going back to Germany to visit for a couple of weeks and, of course, is expected to bring presents. He is stumped on gifts for children. Here are the "requirements" for the gift:

1. There are several children and he wants to get one (maybe two) gift(s) that they can all share and play with together.

2. The age range of the children is from 3-12 years old. Some are boys, some are girls, but the girls are the older ones and the boys are younger.

3. He would prefer to get something that is more outdoor oriented.

4. The game/toy must be very "American".

Any ideas?

My initial suggestions of jump ropes and sidewalk chalk were swiftly rejected because they were not specifically "American" enough.

The Roommate: Season 1, Episode 3

After lots of thought and careful deliberation and prayer and lost sleep and many emails and several phone calls and a visit or two from different potential roommates and a whole notebook full of charts . . . I made an offer to the girl I felt was the one I was most excited about rooming with. . . and she said yes!

In about a month Ruchita will be flying in from India and moving in with me! I am pretty much excited. Now I just have to get the room ready for her. I just need basic bedroom furniture. Craigslist here I come again!

The Roommate: Season 1, Episode 2

I have narrowed the twenty down to three. Of course, I have saved the info on all of them, just in case it does not work out with one of my top three for one reason or another. All three of these girls seem like our personalities would be compatible and that they would be completely capable of paying their portion of the rent (which is kind of important) and all of their references had beaming reports on how wonderful this person is as a roommate. Here is a little about my top three in no particular order. . .

1. A 27 y/o girl from India. She is coming to Chapel Hill to do a doctorate in Economics. She likes hiking and to watch movies and she even made a "Friends" reference in one of her emails, which really got her in good with me :). The perks with her: (1) she said she would show me how to cook indian food, (2) I get to experience a little bit of a different culture without having to pay a plane ticket, and (3) if I ever get to go to India I might just have a place to stay.

2. A 24 y/o girl from Indianna. She is coming to study Physical Therapy at UNC. The perks with this one: (1) she has her own car (I mention this because several of the applicants did not have cars, which shouldn't really make a difference for me, but I am a little worried that no car means that they will be asking me for rides on a regular basis and I already get enough of that from people I don't live with) and (2) she has a great sense of fashion and decorating (so her former roommate says).

3. A 26 y/o girl from NY orginally, but living in Greenville, NC currently. She will be studying psychology at UNC. The perks with this one: (1) she also has a car and (2) I actually get to meet this one before I ask her to move in with me (the other two are so long distance that I just have to communicate through email and phone). This one is coming to meet me and see the apartment on Monday evening.

The Roommate: Season 1

I am living my own reality show at the moment. I am calling it "The Roommate".

Yes, I am in the market for a roommate. After a few months to settle into my new surroundings, I feel ready and excited to take on a roommate. This will of course be a good financial move. I also hope it will mean I have a built in friend :)

I posted an ad on craigslist and got what felt like ten million responses, but was actually about twenty. So the last few days have been tons of emailing and facebooking and myspacing and telephone conversations. The next few days will be meeting potential roommates and contacting their references and more emailing and more phone conversations and lots of chart making. (I am a chart geek. I can't help it, I love them.) And little by little, all but one will be eliminated. . . (it sounds like it has the makings for a reality show to me).

Wish me luck!

Enjoying the Ride

The first several months after moving to North Carolina could be simplified into one single word. . . survival. That might be a tad dramatic, but only a tad. OK, no I was never at death's door and at no point (to my knowledge) was anybody stalking me with any harmful intent, but there were plenty of trials and stressful circumstances and loneliness and disappointments, etc.

But for the moment, many of the difficult circumstances have either been resolved or put off for me to deal with at a later date. And to add to the minimized stress in my life, I feel like I am actually making friends here. I have been going out to eat with people, going to the movies, having people over to watch movies, meeting people for coffee, meeting people for beer, having people over to play volleyball, having people over to make cookies, painting pottery with people, and the list goes on. And I love it. I must admit that somedays I get home and, between my full-time job, two part-time jobs, and social life, I am thoroughly exhausted, but is that good kind of tired. At the end of the day, I lie down in my bed and just before I fall dead asleep (within two minutes of head hitting the pillow) I feel really alive. It is a good feeling. Just thought I would share that with you all :)

Wining, Dining, Over the Rhining

My wonderful weekend/Monday in a nutshell. . .

Friday -
Work = boring, boring, boring.
Dinner with my new friend at Mediterranean Deli = yummy.
Painting pottery at Paint the Earth (a shop on Franklin Street), also with my new friend = good times. But we couldn't finish our artwork before the shop closed on Friday night, so we had round two on Saturday afternoon. Our masterpieces will be fired this week and ready for pick-up on Friday.
Beer at Goodfellows, also with new friend = good conversation and good people watching.

Saturday -
Consultation for a new pet sitting client = another job for this coming weekend. Yay for money coming in!
Visit with Rodger and Angela while I was in their neighborhood = a little catch up time with my closest friends in Chapel Hill.
Lunch and Round Two of Pottery Painting = masterpieces completed and more hang out time with the funniest German philosopher I know.
Esther arrives = extreme jubilation for me.
Esther and I see Sex in the City = the movie was just like the show. We were pleased. Why mess with perfection?

Sunday -
Icecream in Hillsborough = yummmmm.
Church = good stuff.
Over the Rhine Concert = the opening act was so good that one of her songs made me cry. OTR was wonderful as always. They did two encores. I could have died a happy woman that night.
Chocolate Chip Cookies = yumm, but I think I gained three pounds this weekend.

Monday -
Work at Law Office = boring.
Pet Sitting Job on Lunch Break = I almost got attacked by a dog. Yikes!
Spaghetti and Wine for Dinner = good food and good wine with Esther while she is still in town.
Bella = great movie. I highly recommend it. Seriously, stop reading this blog and go get that movie.
Cigars on the Volleyball Court = enjoyment of cigars with one of my only cigar-smoking girl friends.